Dirk Valentine

This is going to be my last update for a while, since I'm going on yet another holiday, this time without any access to a computer. I still don't think the Nitrome bug has been fixed yet, but I managed to get enough game time in to finish Dirk Valentine. This is a very well done game, in my opinion. It has a definite plot, interesting levels, and a boss. The controls did take some time getting used to, as using both the arrow keys and the mouse at the same time is not easy, but once I'd mastered that art, I found I was becoming quite skilled in shooting chains wherever needed. The enemies were exactly the same, but it wasn't so much about killing as it was simply avoiding cannons and the like, which was hard enough in itself. Dirk Valentine is mainly a skill game, and there isn't much luck involved. I think that was why it appealed to me. The only real problem I had with it was that both the bosses were the same, just in different places, and that since they were the same, the second time you encountered it, it wasn't hard to beat at all. Apart from that, I recommend Dirk Valentine.

There Be A Problem

I'm sorry for the extremely slow updates, but Nitrome has been having a few issues lately, where the screen pretty much looks like this. Now, that would be fine. After all, it's the game that really matters, right? Unfortunately, there is a problem with the games too. And so, I can only play occasionally, when it goes back up. I will try my best to finish a game soon. Again, sorry :/

Avalanche

I feel a special connection to this game, as I was there when they put it up. But maybe it's just because it's my kind of game? I absolutely love the design, and think it's well thought up. The levels are challenging but enjoyable, and it keeps you constantly on edge; there is no safe spot to rest. And, you don't have to play levels - Avalanche keeps you coming back by having a 'beat your own time' option, which is always fun. As I've just discovered, this game is much bigger than the others, by an entire 150 or so pixels! However, I've got over my grudge, and can appreciate what this does for the game. Again, it's one where you need to be able to see a little way ahead so you can see all the obstacles in the way before they smash into you. Overall, an excellent game, and I can play for hours in Survival Mode without getting bored. The ending was a bit dull. I wanted a whole animation of the penguin sheltering from the avalanche, but instead it was an extremely short and small loop. Ah well, it couldn't be perfect.

Cold Storage

I'm playing one of the new games, and another winter one. Cold Storage. It has few levels, and is relatively easy once you get the hang of it. However, it is a very well thought up game, and a good time waster. It's technically a platform game, except you have to time your jumps to coincide with the swing of your yeti's body. There's really not much to say. There were no glitches that I experienced, and everything ran smoothly. It is a square game screen, but I think it needs it, you really want to be able to see what's coming next. And I got annoyed with the miniclip logo up the top. Who cares about sponsors, it's a Nitrome game! The only level I got stuck on was level 14. In the bit featured above, you have to bounce off the wall, and try and fall onto the moving bar. That took me a while to figure out, try and bounce off as close to the top of the diagonal bar as possible, then you go further.

Square Meal

I finally did it. Square Meal was the game I had been dreading playing. It had fifty levels, and each was slightly challenging, and took a while. I estimated years of mindless game-playing over it. However, contrary to what I expected, it only took two days, and it was rather enjoyable. The levels should have been repetitive, with only three varieties of enemy, and not many different blocks to eat. However, it wasn't. Somehow, the Nitrome developers managed to make 50 levels of same-ness into something fun. I did get annoyed with the game sometimes, because the creature had rather slow reaction times in regards to turning, and often I'd find myself pressing the left or right arrow key desperately, trying to get my monster to turn around. Not much to say about the game though. It was a good idea, but I also think cutting the number of levels would have been good - the sheer amount put me off right from the start.

Jack Frost

More winter games! This time I played Jack Frost, another one of those games that I've never really taken seriously. And I still don't. The game had lots of potential, but it was excrutiatingly repetitive, and had lots of annoying glitches. The thing I did like about it was the fact that the enemies were unpredictable and challenging to beat. Also, there were fourty levels. That had been another reason I'd tried playing - because I didn't want to leave all the games with lots of levels till the end. And, there was a bar at the bottom left that showed what percentage of the level you'd iced over! Way cool. As I got to the end of the game, I started to get worried, because I didn't know exactly what the plot was. Luckily, the success screen made that all clearer - apparently, my little Jack was trying to turn the world into a winter wonderland! To my annoyance, it didn't have a boss, which I thought was needed. After all, Jack Frost was technically trying to take over the planet. A tip for the levels; don't expect to get them straight away. Learn how your enemies work first, study their movements, and especially how they kill you. Then you'll be a master.

Thin Ice

I've decided to get into the winter spirit. Unfort unately, it's summer over where I live, but that didn't stop me from trying out some of Nitrome's winter games. The first, Thin Ice. I'd never really tried Thin Ice before, probably because I always failed at the first level. Luckily for me, I'd improved, and so Thin Ice didn't pose much of a challenge at all. There were a few levels which were harder than others, but the time limit was extremely long, and it was pretty much the same thing over and over again. I was disappointed that there wasn't a boss at the end, because I can imagine that being quite challenging, but the game itself was quite enjoyable. It was designed well, and it was very original, something which is hard to achieve these days. Another thing I liked was that the levels actually were easy - hard, and I don't think I would have been able to do some of the later levels quite as quickly if I hadn't done the earlier ones first.

The Fancy Pants Adventure World 2

Okay! I know! I have neglected this blog way too much. I have got a few excuses, but I hope that I won't need to use them, because they take up valuable space, and quite frankly, who cares? Anyway, hopefully all of you recognise the title. If you don't, you've probably been living in a cave your entire life. Because this game is famous. I know it deviates from the whole Nitrome theme, but I needed a break, and then one of my class-mates was playing this, and I remembered playing it, and loving it. So, I started playing. My one aim? To get the purple pants. Some say these are the hardest pants to get, and when I heard that I was like duh. They're purple.

I got the pants. It took me about a week, during which my internet suicided. So, I got the purple pants. I thought to myself, well that wasn't too hard. So, I ended up getting all the trophies, and all the pants. The thing about the Fancy Pants Adventures is that the actual levels themselves are no problem, and once you've achieved everything, the game itself is no fun anymore. Apart from the extra levels, which are always a challenge. One that gets almost everyone stuck is AfroNinja. I actually don't understand why. You start, and wall jump. When you get to the top, it isn't a perfect jump, so slide down a bit, jump to the left wall just under the spikes, then jump to the right, and onto the rail.

Next, jumping past that tower of spikes. You simply have to time your jump perfectly, and keep on moving! Don't stop on any wooden platform for too long, or you'll never be able to get back on.

Aquanaut

No, I haven't forgotten about this blog. But a while ago, one of my friends nicely reminded me that games shouldn't be more important than friends. And so, I now spend half of my time on Facebook too. Unfortunately, this means I have less time for games, and so Aquanaut took twice as long. Not that I would ever have finished quickly. The first few levels were a breeze, but once I got into the double digits, I began regretting ever setting eyes on the game. It is actually very hard. Basically, you just play the level over and over, each time getting a little bit further. You learn how to avoid each obstacle - it's basically practise makes perfect. I spent up to four days on one of the levels, playing it over and over again. That's what I did on level 18, 'Bite the Bullet'. I couldn't get past the starfish at the start, so I just made my little sub swim straight through it. This meant I only had two lives to spare, but it worked.

Droplets

Droplets is awesome. Of course, it used to be even cooler, before I realised it had caught the square virus. Luckily, all its fun isn't totally ruined. The thing about this game is that it's a skill game, and a luck one. The levels shoot by, until you're halfway through and you have no idea how the hell you got there. The thing about that is that the levels themselves are fun, but the minimum points bar is way too low. It's simply too easy, on some of them. But, I love the bombs. They are just so unpredictable, you can't accurately tell where the hell your little red bunnies are going to go. And, generally you have so many that instead of being pissed off, you actually laugh when they do. It's hard to take this game seriously, but that is a good thing. I've had enough of those hard-core games that I end up swearing at. It gets a bit tiresome after a while.

Bloody Square

Something I didn't notice until I scaled down the Droplets screen shot, and realised it didn't fit into my usual template - the game has a bigger screen! Horrified, I looked back, and I've realised this disease began at Power Up, and has infected 7 games in total. And yes, I honestly hadn't noticed. This new big-ness irritates me, for no reason other than that it goes against the Nitrome trend. These new game screens are square, and have no 'more games', or 'control' boxes. They're just one, big game screen. Now, I'm sure that this can be a good thing. After all, bigger is better, right? Everyone will have their own opinions, I just wanted to share mine with the world.

Yin Yang

This is a lovely game, purely because of it's originality. You need to use your brain to get past some of the levels, but unlike puzzle games like Doghouse, they don't require any super IQ. There are some very strange glitches, such as pressing the spacebar before the level has fully loaded. If you ever complete a level while battling that glitch, I will worship you forever. It has no colour, but in fact, I think colour would have been a bad idea - Yin Yang doesn't need it. The only colour I saw was on this strange bumblebee creature, featured above. It could move between both the black and white world, and followed your character around. A tip for level 17, do Yin and Yang one at a time - the bumblebee doesn't attack the inactive character.

Knuckleheads II

Before I talk about this game, I just want to say - I outran the rising lava! And yes, I know, I have fallen back on my posts, if only because this game was taking up all my time, and I really wanted it to be over and done with. However, I have beaten the lava. Unfortunately for me, there was another lava instance, this time at level 24. And, it involved slime-covered pegs. Instant death, multiple times. Anyway, enough of that. I wanted to give you one piece of advice for level 23, something that I overlooked, and once I actually got into my head, was much better at the game. Your chain can't be hurt in any way. Not by the massive falling arrows, not by the fireballs. Your chain is bulletproof. Also, don't be afraid of losing a few lives - extra life capsules are very common in all the higher levels.

Knuckleheads I

Knuckle heads is pissing me off! It's not as if I haven't ever come across a game I don't like before. Usually I just stop playing and move on. But I have three levels to go on this beast, and they are definitely worthy of level 23 status. Usually in games, you have some hard ones, and some easy ones, but they are scattered throughout the entire game, rather than the easy ones at the start, hard at the end. But this time, the Nitrome developers decided that they wanted to make my life hard by putting all the difficult levels at the end. And so I am stuck on level 23, with three levels to conquer. Before this, I was having great trouble with level 18. In that, we have rising lava, which is extremely irritating. To beat it, you have to first make a plan of the level in your head, so you know where to go - you definitely can't afford to lose any time. And then, just try over and over again. Practise makes perfect.

Chick Flick

Probably one of the prettiest games around, and an an old-timer at that, Chick Flick is awesome. It's just so beautiful, with it's vibrant colours and stunning level selector. Okay, fine. I am rambling on a bit about its looks. But, the actual game didn't let me down. It was a time-waster, for sure. With only 8 levels and one bonus level, it was a quick game, but well worth it. Each level was challenging in it's own way, and the obstacles were well thought up, and tricky to get past. Not much to say about this game, apart from don't let the bright pink repel you! There are some good levels after the annoying lolly one, with the bouncy jelly, and infuriating sticky icecream.

Flashcat

Flashcat is a far cry from Nitrome's usual style. With no black outlines, how can we live!? Luckily though, this game makes up for it in style. With only 18 levels, it doesn't have much time to impress you, but that's exactly what I love about it. At the beginning of each level, you get a little tip, and the end of each level is a relief-inducing bright blue archway. Personally, I found the little Fs in the picture more annoying than helpful, and hated using them. But alas, in level 7 you have to. That's why it's in my bottom 3 of all the various stages. In this, it's the 'multiplying hoops' that take the stage. I love multiplying hoops! I'm not a points based gamer, I just want to finish and move on, but for people who do like competing for the high score, stuff like multiplying hoops makes it all the better. Trust me.

Twin Shot 2

50 levels later, and an irritating headache, I have finally finished Twin Shot 2. Personally, I reckon it was more trouble than it was worth. Some of those levels were actually quite difficult, and half the time I finished through plain good luck. The game didn't differ much from the original either. It had some new creatures, and the fly ability didn't come up as much (that's a bad thing), but it was pretty much the same. I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not. Something that really had me scratching my head was level 48, which I finally figured out. It's to do with these purple people, which turn up in earlier levels too, all just as annoying as each other. Basically, you have to shoot each one within a specific time, so they all die at the same time. To do this, ride an arrow or two on the 'lift', up to the top, shoot the purple guy, jump out the side, slip back in to the next level, shoot that purple guy etc etc. Hard, and it may take a few tries, but them all dying at the same time is very satisfying.

Snow Drift

Okay, I couldn't get to a computer yesterday, so I still haven't finished any of the games I promised to. Luckily though, I have some back-ups. Snow Drift is one of them. Personally, I think that Snow Drift is the reason Nitrome was formed. To make games like these. It's a classic platform game, and I can't think of any one reason why I love it. Maybe I just love platform games? Anyway, the frame rate isn't the best, but the thing I really think endears this beauty to me is the way it gets rid of everything you need to know in the first few levels. Unlike other games I can name, where you still have those little question boards in the last levels. And also, it is made for people like me. Complete amateurs. It is easy, and my little sister loves it, simply because she can actually beat it. I'm not going to give you any tips for this game, because really, you should be able to figure it out for yourself. Have fun!

Toxic 2

I am currently battling my way through Twang and Twin Shot 2, so while I was doing those, I thought I might give you the lowdown on Toxic 2. This is the sequel to a badly made Toxic, and the improvements are vast. This makes it my second favourite game on the website. The thing about Toxic 2 is that it is engaging. You have secret levels, which you have to actually find. And no cheating on the interweb! It is original, and the frame rate is much better than the first version. It does have a few glitches, but they are small, and it makes the game that bit more exciting. To be honest, the boss was a bit disappointing, but I definitely hope there will be a third Toxic. It was well worth it. I will be helping you here with level 10, the first boss. This guy is the one I respect the most. He is, however, relatively easy to beat if you know your stuff. The trick is to keep moving. Your bombs are unlimited, and so make use of that by chucking heaps out at once in a place where he is going to jump. He jumps generally in a pattern - get to know that pattern and you'll be sweet.

Debut

I have been looking for a screen capturing software, that allows you to record what is going on on your monitor. Someone recommended Debut as a video editing software, with a screen mode. I tried it, and promptly uninstalled it. The quality of the recording was, to be frank, absolute crap. See the screenshot above. Does anyone have any suggestions for good quality, free, software? I don't mind if it doesn't have any editing ability, or video capturing. Or recording even. I just need something that can capture the screen, so I can put videos up here. It's something I've wanted to do for a while.

Flipside II

As of this moment, I have completed Flipside. The last level was annoyingly hard, and it was mainly luck that I managed to make it past all the green bouncy blocks. Therefore, the featured level today is level 12. I have located a shortcut for you, in the image above. When you're on these, go backwards and fall through the little gap in the floor. It takes you a level down. Very convenient, especially if you're in the process of battling for first place with the three other 'cars', or whatever they're called. The end was quite surprising, I hadn't realised that there was a backstory to the entire thing. And no, I am not giving it away. You'll have to wait and master all the levels yourself before you find out.

Flipside I

I've been trying to suss out this game for a while, but only recently have I got the hang of it. There are some levels you should hang back a while and wait for the other racers to go, and ones where you should barge through like the rest of them. The thing I really hate about this game, not a fault of the actual coding, but more just a pet hate, is the other racers' manners. Seriously. They have no sense of strategy, and don't care about you. This is technically a good thing, in that it makes the game unpredictable and exciting, but I like knowing what's going to happen. At the moment I'm only up to level 10, and I really have no clue what the hell's going on, half the time. What often happens is that me and the computer are racing neck and neck for the finish line, and the computer almost always wins. A tip for level 8, don't hold back. This one is more about muscle than anything else, and when you are going up the vertical slope featured above, press the up arrow key to jump off the wall, and don't jump too late! It took me a while to figure that out :)

Parasite

The thing I love most about this particular game is it's colours. They are beautiful. And the fact that each level is engaging, and enfuriating, in it's own special way. The frame rate is wonderful, and I love the originality. Not much to say about this game, but definitely worth the time spent on poring over the various levels. One level that was particularly challenging, but fun, was level 12. You need to be apt at your control of the acorn cannons to beat this. In it, you follow the five tree trunks to the spirits at the end. Beware of the killer bees, they will get you if you stray off the path. And definitely don't expect to get it in one go, this is a level that may take time and lots of patience.

Cave Chaos

Yuss! I finished Cave Chaos, after much delay on level 17. The rest I got past without too much trouble. The trick with the revolving platforms is that you can't jump on them immediately, you have to wait. They spin almost instantly. That's something that has caught me out a lot, much to my annoyance. I think the thing with level 17 is that it felt really long, there was quite a lot you had to get past. Careful of the sticky yellow gloop, that can be your downfall. And, for those who haven't yet reached the end of the game, don't get your expectations too high. I was expecting colours like those in Parasite, but instead there was a sunset scene. I'm not going to post a picture of the ending here, you need to reach it yourselves. The one fault I found with this game was that there were lots of glitches, which all involved jumping and then landing technically in the middle of a block. You can't do much about this, unfortunately, just be careful of jumping too close to the edge.